What it takes to say I love you
by SerialStoryLover
Summary: Based on one of Lilacmermaid33's prompts at LJ: "Mac is attacked and she doesn't know where else to turn."
1. Chapter 1

_**What it takes to say I love you. Ch. 1**_

_**Based on a prompt from Lilacmermaid33 over at LJ. "Mac is attacked, and she doesn't know where else to turn."**_

* * *

It's a Friday night and it's been a long week at the ACN studios for the News Night team. The republican primary race has been keeping everyone working late into the night as they vet the candidates vying for the nomination, and everyone's stress levels had been pushed to Max.

They'd managed through the Iowa caucus, but with New Hampshire set for three days' time, the workload was relentless. Will and Mackenzie's relationship, which had steadily been gaining some strength since August, was being put to the test almost as much as their journalistic skills, with stress and exhaustion resulting in several heated debates which spilled over into arguments and caused their staffers to give them a wide berth until they had calmed down again.

Mac had announced at the end of that night's broadcast that in reward for the hard work they had all put in this week, (although they were due in on a Saturday) they didn't have to be in until 2pm tomorrow. A cheer went up along with a lot of thank yous; and Will shot her a small, apologetic smile. She hadn't consulted him on this, but he knew that she wasn't just reacting to the staffer's stress levels; she was judging this by how strained their relationship was getting – which always ended up spilling out into the bullpen, and neither of them felt the News Night crew should half to deal with them.

Will only went for one drink. Between watching Mackenzie's exhausted face and how she still somehow managed to interact with the staff (like a good boss should do, he thought) whilst he quietly sat at the bar nursing a whisky; and trying to ignore pointed looks from Charlie, Will had only been able to handle one drink.

He had left early, thanking the staff for their hard work before walking over to where Mac was getting more drinks for her and Sloan at the bar and quietly apologising in person for being an asshole. She smiled wearily and did the same herself, placing a gentle hand on his arm and shaking her head saying she knew it was just stress. He finally managed to smile back at her, his heart feeling a little lighter.

"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow then." She nodded softly, and he placed a gentle kiss on her cheek before leaving, not caring that everyone could see them. He was too tired to care; and after the work she had put in this week, particularly in putting up with him, he wanted her to know that he appreciated it and that he cared that she was being so patient with him after his effective radio silence on the issue of "them" since his hospitalisation.

Despite his weariness, however, he hadn't been able to sleep when he got home. He'd had to grab a beer from the fridge because all he had been thinking about since he had left Hang Chews was how soft Mac's cheek had felt when he'd kissed it. He couldn't actually remember if he'd kissed her since she'd come back into his life. He didn't think so, he'd have remembered.

He began once more to lose himself in the history of their relationship; from the day he'd met her to the day she had left him, broken, with no clear path to take, and then the last twenty, wonderful months when she had against all bets come back into his life. And despite his grudging attitude, he was incredibly glad that she had.

His phone rang, and he put off answering it, once more thinking about the soft smile on her face as they'd said goodnight earlier, until out of the corner of his eye he saw the caller ID. Well, he saw the photo on the screen – he was a little light-headed to see the writing from the corner of his eye. A jolt of excitement and anticipation shot through him, though he couldn't decide whether he wanted to take her call or not.

Despite the fact that he had decided two things in the last two months that essentially meant he wanted a relationship with her again, he simply had no idea how to tell her this.

Yet…that smile earlier…

He picked up his phone.

"Mac?" he said softly. There was no sound from the other end of the line. His heart sank slightly. She was probably drunk – she had either dialled his number by accident or she was too pissed to speak. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was nearly one in the morning. Wow. How had that happened?

"Mackenzie?" He sighed. "If you're drunk you should really go to bed or you're going to be horrible in the morning. We have work, remember?"

There was a slight sound from the other end. And then again, but it was almost a moan. This caused Will to frown. Where was she? He couldn't hear anything else so he assumed in bed, but…

"Mackenzie, please talk to me? Are you okay?"

"Will?" She sounded confused, very drunk, and weak; but he was relieved that she was answering him.

"Good, Kenz? Are you at home?"

A moment's pause.

"No." A slight chill ran up his spine.

"Do you know where you are?"

"Sloan. Sloan and I went to a club for some drinks." Her words were slurred and it sounded like she was struggling to get them out. "I left and –"

Ideas were starting to run through his mind that he really didn't like. He had a funny feeling that he knew what had happened, and why Mackenzie was calling him, and all he knew was that whatever had happened the only way he would stop panicking was to get to her.

"Mackenzie? Where are you?" He heard a sob down the phone line and he instantly knew his fears were conformed.

"Mac sweetheart, where are you? I'm going to come get you." He dived up off the sofa, his head suddenly a lot clearer, and started shoving his feet back into his shoes. For a second, phoning Lonny crossed his mind, but he knew he would take too long to get here – he'd call him once he was with Mackenzie.

"The club across from…ow." He knew instantly where she was talking about – there was a jazz club that Mackenzie and Sloan liked to move onto after Hang Chews. But he was more concerned about the end of her sentence.

"Mac?"

"It hurts, Will." Her slightly cracked, dry voice moaned.

"Mac, I'll be there in ten minutes. I'm not going to put the phone down, okay."

"Will?" She moaned.

"I'm coming, Mac, I'm coming." He was jamming the elevator button so hard that it might get stuck, but he didn't care.

"Mac, is there anyone else there? Can you get anyone to help you? Actually, no," He thought about what he was saying and that she was a drunk, beautiful women alone on a Friday night, "just ignore what I said Mac. Hang on, I'll be there soon."

After hailing a taxi he offered the driver double to cut a few lights. It took him less than ten minutes. Maybe six. He spoke to her all the way through the journey, but he hardly ever got more than a moan or his name in reply. He had no idea what she or – he shivered again – someone else had done to her, but that didn't matter. He just needed to get to her.

Jumping out, he could just see lines of punters spilling out of the bars, gathered around tall tables smoking and drinking, all enjoying the fact that it was the weekend. He couldn't see Mackenzie anywhere. He desperately pressed his phone to his ear.

"Mackenzie, where _exactly_ are you? I'm outside the Jazz Club." He was wildly spinning on the balls of his feet doing 360-degree turns to make sure he hadn't missed anywhere.

"Side…" he heard her mutter and he looked along the street to see where she would mean. Three doors up and across from the Jazz Club was a small alley that he knew cut through to 43rd street. He ran to it.

There seemed to be a small vacuum of people around the entrance to this alley and he couldn't see anyone, though there seemed to be a few bins, an old Volvo and a few empty beer barrels here and there along with some garbage bags.

"Mackenzie?" He called out, slowly advancing into the alleyway. "Mackenzie?"

He saw a slight movement behind one of the bins and hurried over. Hidden, slumped against the wall a few feet behind the bin was Mackenzie. A mixture of fear, anger, and – love? His heart and head were buzzing. Her head was slumped on her shoulder, her phone tucked between her shoulder and her ear. Her legs were a little tangled, her tights ripped at the top, and three buttons protruding from the waistline of her skirt seemed to be gone, he could see a faint red mark on her stomach. One shoe was missing.

His eyes moved to her face. There was a scratch running down her from her left eyebrow to her cheek, her lip was bleeding, and she had a cut in her neck too. The back of her hair seemed to be damp and stuck together as well…but the key was that her hand bag was missing. So she had been mugged. Will's throat felt very dry as he looked down at the apparently unconscious woman in front of him.

"Mac?" He managed, sinking to his knees and cupping her face in his hand. Her eyes opened blearily, and latched onto him, squinting. As soon as she realised who it was, they filled with tears and her mouth began to tremble. His thought his might have heart broken (again), and he gently pulled her forward into his arms, trying to ignore the small cry of pain as she did so.

"Have you called an ambulance?" He asked into her ear. She shook her head, mumbling into his shoulder,

"Just wanted you." He shut his eyes tightly trying to keep it together, and pressed a fierce kiss into the side of her head that wasn't bleeding.

He let her cry into his shoulder as he dialled 911 into his mobile and asked for an ambulance, holding her close and running a soothing hand up and down her back, placing his bomber jacket around her shoulders.

He didn't suppose that it could have taken that long for the ambulance to reach them – it was still quite early for drunken calls on a Friday morning in Manhattan, but Will was convinced she was going to pass out at any moment. He applied his palm to where her head was bleeding, and when she moaned into his neck, he had to soothingly tell her that it was okay. Even though he knew something was terribly wrong.

She seemed a little too elucidated for a concussion; and the ripped tights and shirt were putting scenarios into his head that he didn't want to think about.

So it was a long ten minutes.


	2. Chapter 2

_**What it takes to say I love you Ch. 2**_

_**My medical knowledge comes from ER, and I haven't watched it in a while. Apologies, though I hope nothing is attrociously obtuse. **_

* * *

Despite the fact that it was only twenty-five past one on a Saturday morning, the casualties of the previous nights' festivities were slowly beginning to dribble through the doors of NY Presbyterian's Emergency room.

They'd been there just over an hour and it was noisy and busy, and Will felt that this was doing nothing to help Mackenzie clear her head. She had been put onto an IV drip to get some fluids into her, and a young, tired, and flustered looking doctor had just finished suturing up the cuts on her head and neck.

Will hadn't let go of her hand since the ambulance had arrived.

She had been diagnosed with a fairly severe concussion after her muggers had bashed her head off the wall. The paramedics had examined her abdomen, and apart from an old scar on her right side – which Will knew was a memoir from Pakistan – they had only found bruising there. Fairly nasty bruising, but bruising all the same. As yet they hadn't examined any lower except to diagnose one sprained, and another severely bruised ankle; and it was this that Will was nervous about.

He could just about handle her being beat up, as long as could keep her close and not let her go for a long time (and preferably have a few minutes along in a locked room with the bastards who had done this to her); but if they had done anything else to her…he didn't know if they'd recover from that.

Will was sitting on the edge of her bed, her arm entwined through his, and their hands joined together. Her head was resting sleepily on his shoulder, though she wasn't actually allowed to sleep for a few hours as a precaution from her concussion. He was staring at nothing in particular in front of him, but rather focussing on her breathing to soothe him and keep him calm. Her physical presence and the warmth of her small (and at the moment very fragile) body was all he needed to focus on.

Her head twisted slightly and he looked down at her. She was leaning back, her eyes opening slowly. He smiled, trying to look reassuring, and brushed some hair off her face.

"Hey. How're you feeling?"

Her face scrunched up and she shook her head slightly. His smile faded again. "Feeling sick?"

"No." she said in a small voice.

"How's the pain?"

"Not as bad as it was. Head's still sore though. Migraine?"

"It had a bad run in with a brick wall." He told her softly, running his thumb up and down the back of her hand.

"Oh. I don't remember that part."

He hesitated, not knowing if he should do this yet; he knew there was a cop on his way down to speak to her. "What do you remember Mac?"

She gulped, and then screwed her eyes up again as if she was trying to physically squeeze the fogginess out of her brain. "Water?" she croaked.

He passed her the cup of water that was sitting on top of the monitor next to him and she took a couple of small sips before handing it back to him. She laid her head back on his shoulder and he tucked it under his chin, continuing to stroke her hand and waiting for her to speak.

"We went to the bar, and Sloan bumped into a friend from college. We'd only been going to go for one drink but then Sloan wanted to stay so I said I'd leave. On my way out a guy with his friends at the smoking bit asked if I had a light…I didn't so I just said sorry, and walked away.

"Uh…he came after me, trying to chat me up, and I said I wasn't interested. I headed to the subway –"

"Through that damn alley." Will muttered under his breath. Mac squeezed his hand gently, squirming slightly.

"I know Will, okay. I didn't think they'd follow me!"

"That doesn't make it –" He heard her moan slightly again and sighed, "Mac, you got beat up, you need to stay still or you'll hurt yourself more." She mumbled something indistinguishable into his shoulder and burrowed into his neck once more.

"Come on, Mac, you were doing really well. What happened next?"

"They – it's a bit blurry. I heard someone behind me, and as I turned around someone pushed me and then it was just really sore. There's kind of flashes of voices and I could see their legs, but that's all really…it's a bit hazy."

"Would you recognise him again?" Mac shrugged slightly.

"I think I'd know the first guy, but I didn't really see the others."

She was sounding sleepy again and he knew he was pushing her, but he wanted to know that she'd be able to give the cops something to go on. He wanted these guys caught.

"Mac…did they do anything else to you?" He asked quietly. He was staring very hard at the railing on the other side of the bed. He didn't know whether he wanted to know her answer. After a couple of seconds she went very still; she'd clearly been processing what he'd said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…" His voice became strangled, and choked again, and he knew he was supposed to be being strong for her right now, but he was honestly finding it difficult. He just wanted to get her out of here, and snuggle up with her in his arms so that he knew she'd be safe. "Mac, when I found you your shirt was open and your tights were ripped. Did they do anything else?"

Mac ducked her head out from under him, and looked at Will, her expression stunned and worry beginning to appear on her face as she realised she couldn't answer.

"I don't remember much." She said hollowly. "I don't think so…"

Will cursed himself for making her worry – that was the last thing she needed right now. He should have kept it to himself and just let the doctor's handle it when they felt she was ready. He did the only thing he could think of and tucked her head back into the crook of his neck, pulling her even closer, and this time he found that she properly curled into him.

"Okay. Well – does it hurt?" An excruciating moment's pause.

"No." Will closed his eyes in relief. He knew they'd still do an exam, but he was pretty sure that if the men had done anything worse than beat her, she'd be able to feel it. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, as he became aware that there were new tears falling onto his neck. He figured that shock was probably having a fairly strong effect on her right now, too.

"Hey, Mackenzie, it's okay. You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you, I promise…they'd have to get through me."

He heard and felt it as she managed a choked laugh. He felt her arm drape itself across his chest and her fingers bunch in his shirt at his shoulder. He tightened his hold on her as much as he dared without hurting her injuries, and kissed her hair again.

There was a rustling of the screens around Mac's bed and a female doctor appeared this time. She was in her mid-fifties and looked like a very kind, motherly figure. Which was just as well, because Will could guess what she was here to do.

"Hi there Mackenzie, my name is Sophia. I'm the Supervising doctor here in the ER. I understand that you were assaulted earlier this evening?"

Will looked down to see that Mac was looking incredibly frail from where she was resting against him. She nodded, slightly and he tightened his grip on her hand reassuringly. She squeezed it back and leaned into him more, but looked a little more certain of herself. Sophia smiled at the two of them and moved forwards a little, pulling the screen behind her.

"Are you her husband sir?" There was a pang of something Will couldn't quite place as she said that, and Mac went oddly still.

"Uh, no. I'm not. But I'm the closest thing he has to family this side of the Atlantic." He said it firmly and hoped that Mac appreciated it.

"Okay. Well, given the circumstances of the attack, we'd usually do a – I'm sorry, it's a terrible term – but, we'd usually do a rape test." Mac flinched slightly at the words. "You were drunk, and the state of your clothes and you're other injuries just make us want to be sure, okay? Do you have any pain in that area?"

Mackenzie shook her head timidly. "Okay, well, that's a really good sign. It's not a very pleasant exam I'm afraid, but it shouldn't take too long."

"You have to go." Mac murmured to Will. Will looked down at her. He didn't want to leave her, but at the same time he didn't want to see this, and knew she didn't want him to see it either; so after a moment he nodded.

"Do you know when she'll be able to leave?" He asked Sophia.

"If everything comes back clear from this, then she can leave once she's had some more fluids and pain meds. After that it's rest for at least four or preferably five days. She can't go to sleep for another little while though. You have someone to stay with?"

"Yes." Will answered immediately, and for the first time in what felt like hours, a timid smile crossed Mackenzie's face.

"Then she'll be clear in about an hour, maybe 90 minutes tops."

"Okay." Will turned back to Mac. "I'm going to call Lonny and get him to take us back to mine. That sound okay?"

Mac nodded back at him. He hated it when she was quiet – it was so un-Mackenzie-ish, and it unnerved him more than anything else.

"I won't be far away." He said softly, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, before he left the cubicle with a last look at her as he drew the curtain behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

_**What it takes to say I love you Ch. 3**_

* * *

"You went out without me?! McAvoy, you know the deal!"

"Lonny! Mac's been attacked! Sorry if I didn't wait for you to turn up so that she could bleed to death!"

"Wait, what?" Lonny's voice suddenly softens and becomes more serious, and Will is torn between exasperation and approval.

"Mac – she was mugged by a group of guys in an alley beside some club. She was drunk and she called me, and I apologise but I wasn't willing to wait. Actually, you know what I'm not sorry; I'm not going to apologise for that."

"Alright man, okay. This once, you get away with it…how is she?"

Will sighed and leaned against the wall of the ambulance bay, taking a long drag on the cigarette that he had bummed off a paramedic. The icy breeze was refreshing after the warmth created by the sheer number of bodies in the ER.

"She's pretty disorientated. She doesn't remember everything so she's a little jumpy, but she's Mackenzie…she's doing well, considering."

"Alright. Well, good; I'm glad she's okay. I'm going to come get you, which ER are you at?"

"Presbyterian. They're gonna let her go in about an hour."

"Alright. I'll be there in twenty-five."

"Thanks."

The call cut out and Will had a chance to clear his head for a few seconds. Now that he was away from Mac and the immediate nature of what had happened tonight, it had occurred to him that they had crossed about twelve different barriers in the last two hours that they hadn't managed to cross in the last six months. And he wasn't sure how he felt about that.

At this particular moment in time, he knew that all he wanted to do – regardless of what it meant or looked like – was to take care of Mackenzie, to make sure that she knew she would be safe with him, and to see her through this until she was well again.

He knew she'd probably been in some nasty situations before (she'd been in the Middle East for three fucking years!) but this was her home – New York. After where she'd been, he wanted her to feel safe here. Particularly because if he eventually found the balls to tell her what he'd realised over the last few months, then he had some long term plans which he hoped meant that neither of them would be leaving New York for a very long time.

Dropping the cigarette into the ash-bin, he exhaled a long breath and let himself calm again before he went back in there. Looking at his watch, he'd been gone about twenty-five minutes; nearly half an hour, actually. Surely they'd be finished their exam by now?

There was still a niggling, pessimistic part of him which was worried about her exam, but he knew that based on all the evidence, it should turn out okay. He hoped.

As he rounded the corner into the set of cubicles that Mackenzie was situated in, he spotted a smartly dressed NYPD officer standing in front of her bed.

Hurrying forward so that he would be able to see past the officer, he managed to get a first glimpse of Mackenzie. She was sitting up in bed, having changed into some pink nurses scrubs, and she's got more colour on her face than she did before.

Will thought she was focussing very intensely on what the police officer was asking her, so he was a little surprised when her hand reached out to where he was standing. He smiled, and moved forward to take it gently in his own before perching on the bed beside her.

"Good morning, sir. I'm Sergeant Nathan Danes, I'm just conducting an interview with your girlfriend about her attackers."

He was a young, but sturdy looking guy, clearly very new – neither Will nor Mackenzie wanted to have to correct someone about their relationship for the second time that evening, but Will could almost feel Mackenzie grinning behind him.

"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" Sergeant Danes asked innocently, confused. _Definitely new_, Will thought to himself.

"I – sorry, he's no-" Mackenzie began.

"I'm sorry, but are you almost done, Sergeant Danes?" Will cut in, not entirely sure why he hadn't let Mackenzie finish her sentence. "I'd really like to get Mac home and resting as soon as possible."

"I completely understand, sir." Danes nodded, promptly; quickly consulting his notes before looking back up at Mackenzie. "Just a couple more questions Ms McHale. I'll quickly fill you in sir."

"We have a CCTV camera that is stationed just above a nightclub across the street from the alleyway, so we're currently having our guys go through the footage from around the time Ms. McHale was attacked. I'm sure you can understand that it's Friday night, so there's a few of these to go through, but we'll hope to have a confirmation one way or another by Sunday morning. If we find them and the evidence is solid we'll have them on charges of theft and assault and they should do some time. But obviously in order for a conviction we will need the footage given Ms. McHale's inebriated state and subsequent concussion. I'm sorry; it just wouldn't stand up in court."

He hadn't said it. That was all that was running through Will's head. He gripped Mackenzie's hand a little tighter and felt her squeeze it back, reassuringly as she leant forwards and rested her head against his shoulder. He leaned back gently so their heads were resting together, praying for the first time in a long while.

"Thank you Sergeant."

"Of course, sir. Now, Ms McHale, I just need you to give me the contents and a description of your purse, along with an address where we'll be able to contact you over the next few days."

Will listened to Mackenzie describe her small purse and the iPod, wallet and make up and a few other items that were in it, before she started to give her own address. Will tapped her hand gently and insisted on giving his address instead.

Sergeant Danes gave them a warm smile, assured them that he would have news for them by tomorrow morning and bade them a good night, adding that he hoped Mackenzie felt better when he saw her again.

"He fancied you a little bit." Will said quietly as soon as he was out of earshot. Mackenzie scoffed and relaxed back on her pillows.

"Don't be ridiculous! I'm about twelve years older than him."

"I'm eleven years older than you. Never seemed to stop you." He turned around, and surveyed her happily. A sleepy smile crept across her face as she lightly ran a thumb over his hand which she was still holding.

"That's true. But he won't be nearly as handsome as you are by the time he's fifty. You can tell by the nose." Will snorted (rather ironically) and laughed as she snuggled back into the pillows, which he was annoyed to see looked far more comfortable than his had been. He was glad that she was clearly feeling more herself – flirting and teasing him.

He shifted around to that he was sitting more across from her and gently took her other hand in his free one before looking up at her again.

"So…" He began softly, slightly breathless "All's well?" Mac smiled knowingly back at him.

"Except for a few scrapes and bruises, yep. All's well. Danes and Sophia think the tears probably came from them just being a little vigorous," A frown flitted across his face again at the thought of her being beaten up, but she looked imploringly back at him, "But apart from that and a pretty sick concussion I'm absolutely fine."

Hearing her say it just made him undone. He tugged her forward as gently as he could and pulled her into his arms. She fell into him like a jigsaw piece falls into place and wound her arms nimbly around his neck. This time she wasn't sobbing into his shoulder, or falling apart beneath him; she was just resting gently in his arms, and God did it feel good having her there; knowing she was safe, and that in a few days she would be well again.

He moved his hand gently up into her hair, just below her injury. "Had me worried there for a second, Mac." He had to say it, just so that she would know. He needed to share that with someone, because he had honestly been shit scared that they would have to go somewhere he wasn't sure they'd make it back from. She tightened her grip around his him, pressing her nose into his neck as she lifted herself up a little to be closer to him.

"Don't hurt yourself."

She stilled, though didn't quite settle herself back onto the bed; and after a moment she mumbled into his neck, "We can take small consolation that the purse they were after is actually a decent fake bought for the equivalent of 75 cents in a cheap market in Baghdad."

Will laughed and he could feel her giggles reverberate through him as she joined in. He also then felt her sway a little, and gently pushed her backwards into the pillows once more.

"Still a bit woozy?" He asked, a shadow of concern once more crossing his face as he watched her eyes flicker shut again for a moment before she had to force them open again so that she didn't fall asleep. She nodded, biting her lip.

"Don't think the pain meds are doing it much good."

"Probably doing some good for the pain though." He quipped. She narrowed her eyes at him and he laughed again.

"We'll cancel your cards when we get home, okay?" She stared at him for a moment, wondering whether to bring up the fact that for the second time in ten minutes he had referred to their destination as "home" – a place it hadn't been for the past five years. She wondered if he even realised what he was saying…

Deciding not to spoil whatever was going on here (if there was anything to spoil), she simply nodded, and smiled weakly back at him. This did nothing to help her wooziness.

He watched her close her eyes for a minute to get her balance back, before she spoke again, so softly that she almost missed it.

"Sing me a song William."

It took him completely by surprise but he had to smile all the same. She hadn't made that request in years; and he suddenly felt like every inhibitor to him being with her again had been slowly peeled away by her tonight, and what was more, he found that he really did not mind one bit.

"You'll fall asleep Kenz."

Like a little kid she shook her head, pouting her lip slightly, and he gently played with her fingers trying to coax her eyes open.

"I promise I won't. I'll sing along so that I won't sleep."

"Well then I'm definitely not singing." Will said flatly, knowing that in less than a second her eyes would snap open and she would likely as not cause him some form of minor bodily harm.

Sure enough the hand was raised even before she started to open her eyes, and he easily caught in his own, locking them together.

"Careful. There's a cop walking around here looking for an attacker." He was flirting and he loved the way her drowsy eyes seemed to sharpen just a little, a shadow of mischief glinting there.

"Yeah, the attacker of very attractive brunette, and I'm sorry honey but you nowhere near fit that description." He raised his eyebrows, rather impressed and quietly turned on by her impressive display of what was effectively her flirting back at him while high and with a serious concussion.

"Sadly that's true," He began as he lightly released her elbow and ran his fingers down her arm until her hand was once more entwined in his. "Though I don't see anyone here who _does_ fit that description, so I guess you'd get away with it."

Mackenzie sunk back into her pillows again, pouting once more, but she didn't pull her hand away and he could tell that she was secretly enjoying their banter. "That was uncalled for Mr McAvoy. You shouldn't knock a girl when she's down."

He grinned and raised her hand to his lips with the heir of one who was in the presence of royalty, which made her giggle slightly, and kissed it.

"Forgive me, m'Lady." A coy smile appeared on her lips, and in that moment it hit him. He leaned forward and slipped an arm gently around her waist, moulding into her. She seemed a little surprised, but after a second he felt her free hand running gently through his hair, scraping his scalp in a pleasing tingling way a few times. "I've always felt attractive was never enough to describe you, Mackenzie."

He felt more than heard the hitch in her breath as she heard his words, and a second later felt her grip on both his hand and the back of his head tighten slightly.

Though he worried he was maybe pushing this slightly, he turned his head slightly and pressed a gentle, hot kiss on her cheek. He felt a slight shiver run through her, but as he gently rubbed circles into her lower back, she relaxed into him and nuzzled her face into his neck.

"Alright Ms McHale." Lonny's amused voice came from behind them, along with the sound of the curtain being drawn back. "If you're really decided on going with this old man then let's get you out of this puke-smelling drunk asylum and back to 21st century hygiene."

* * *

_**Come on guys…you didn't seriously think I would have the heart to do that to Mac!? To Mackenzie and Will? ME? Come on! I doubt I could ever do anything that would seriously in danger their relationship. I'd probably breakdown just writing that story!**_

_**Still…part of me is pleased that you really weren't sure :p ANd I guess after I was so convincing, I hope that no one is disappointed with the truth (as weird as that sounds - I'll take relieved!) Sorry, but writing one angsty fic is more than enough for now. **_

_**Much, much, much lovage for all your amazing reviews! Thank you so much :D**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**What it takes to say I love you Ch. 4**_

* * *

It was a quiet ride back to Will's apartment. Mackenzie was tucked close into his side, fidgeting with the cufflinks on his shirt sleeve to keep herself from falling asleep, and Will was more than grateful that Lonny had the tact not to try and start a conversation.

As they pulled into the garage, Will gently extracted himself from Mackenzie to get the hospital issue wheelchair from the trunk. Mac looked at it disdainfully, and a bemused smile crossed his face as he reached a hand out to her so that she could pull herself forward more easily out of the car. Between her sprained ankle and her bruised one, being upstanding for long periods of time wasn't really going to be possible for about a week.

He could tell she was trying to hide the flashes of pain and discomfort and that she was feeling as she shuffled to the door, so he hopped round and gently slid one arm under her legs and the other round her back lifting her out and gently into the wheelchair.

"You have a knee injury remember? Think how much _more_ ridiculous we'll look if we both have to wheel ourselves into the office for a couple of weeks." Will scoffed, starting to push her along the concourse as Lonny followed silently behind them.

"Mac, I've lifted grocery bags heavier than you."

Lonny said goodbye to them at the lift, kissing Mac's cheek as he said he hoped she felt better in the morning, and earning himself a suspicious look from Will which just made the bodyguard smile cheekily.

"You still wanting a ride in the morning?"

Will looked down at Mac, who looked as though she was about to say something – something he had been expecting (and if he had anything to do with it then she wouldn't have a say on the matter) so he jumped in before she could open her mouth.

"I'm not sure yet. I'll call you in the morning – well – in a few hours I guess." Lonny nodded, tucking his hands in the large pockets of his leather jacket. Will held out his hand, "And seriously, thanks Lonny. I know two am calls aren't really what you signed up for."

Lonny shook his head, brushing it off as he grasped Will's hand. "Hey, no worries, man. And Mackenzie, you have any problems with him you call me, right?"

Mackenzie grinned up at him and nodded. "Will do. Thank you, Lonny."

"Alright you two. Remember she has to rest McAvoy!"

Mac blushed at his last comment, but Will smiled ruefully and turned them into the elevator as the doors pinged open.

"Yes, you do. So why you thought you'd get away with going into work tomorrow is beyond me."

"I wasn't going to –"

"Mac, please. That's exactly what you were going to say when he asked about tomorrow morning."

She looked up at him with those round eyes he knew she used whenever she wanted something, but he stood leaning against the railing beside her, arms folded, a set look on his face.

"The primary is in three days."

"You're not going into work until at least Tuesday – at the very least, like the Doctor said. And I'm not overly thrilled about you going in on Tuesday either because it will be like Macy's when the sales open. You know we usually have ambulances on standby for the New Hampshire primary."

"But –"

"If we have to we'll have you constantly on conference call, but I don't think you wheeling yourself around the office on Tuesday is best for everyone else's health. You know what you're like on these days – you'll…wind up running someone over on your way to the decision desk."

At this she laughed; but still looked a little put out. He could see this was not going to be the end of this disagreement, so he decided to change the topic.

"Look, you must be hungry right? Pumped full of alcohol, then concussed and then pumped full of drugs?" Looking down all he could see was the hair swinging in front her face as she thought about this for a second.

"Actually, yeah I am. I hadn't noticed." She peered up at him, inquisitive about where he was going with this.

"Well in that case there are two options Ms. One, we get take out – it's not three yet, they should still be serving – or…there is a bit of Marzetti in the fridge from yesterday?" He could feel the grin forming on his face before it did, knowing that Mackenzie's eyes would light up just as they did now.

Marzetti had been Will's mother's speciality dish. He'd learned to cook at an early age, but it had mainly been basic stuff to feed his brothers and sisters whenever his mom was recovering from his father's latest outburst. But teaching him Marzetti had just been a lazy afternoon with just the two of them in the house.

As soon as Mackenzie had tasted it, it had become their special dinner; Will had always made it for them after a particularly trying week at work or after a special occasion. He'd made it after she'd gotten her first Peabody. That had been a good night…

But he'd stopped making it after they had split up. First his mother had died, and then Mac had gone. He just didn't like eating it without either of them.

"Oooh Marzetti sounds good to me." Will laughed.

"Mac, you're positively drooling. That's very unbecoming."

"Listen Billy, good home cooked meals have been an uncommon luxury for me the past few years. They didn't do much spaghetti in Peshawar. It was discriminatory –"

"Against people who never learned to cook? That's because girls over there pay attention to their mothers when they try and teach them to cook." He teased as he began to wheel her out into his apartment.

"Yes, because women are completely equal to men over there..."

"And yet, I can cook and you can't."

"Think about what you're saying Billy. Picture what you're _actually_ saying: you're talking about my mother and me working _together_ over a hot stove. In what warped dimension of your mind does that end up in anything other than hospitalisation?"

Will burst out laughing, gripping the handles of her wheelchair so that he didn't double over and whack his forehead off her bashed skull. He stopped her at the lounge and moved in front of her still laughing a little.

He held out his hands to her and grasped her forearms to help her up. "Fair enough. Your Dad did a mean roast though. You could have paid a little more attention to him."

So that she didn't have to put too much pressure on her ankle, he was standing incredibly close to her. He desperately wanted to pull her into a proper hug, but it would be too sore on her ankles. He'd lift her up but he remembered the bruises on her midriff and decided against it; so he settled for the fact that she was holding onto his arm and his ribs very tightly, before he gently helped her over to the lounge.

She tucked her legs underneath her and snuggled back into the couch, yawning.

"How long before they said I can sleep?" Will was watching her, smiling. She looked so adorable when she was tired; tiny and cute, and here she was five years later tucked up in the same corner of his sofa where, back then, her name had practically been invisibly engraved on the seatback. Coming out of his reverie, he checked his watch.

"Not for another hour. And then I have to wake you up every two hours." Mac's face crumpled into a frown, and he hastened to add (before he laughed again and earned himself another dirty look), "But then you get to go _straight_ back to sleep! It's just to check you haven't turned into a zombie."

She smirked; and then frowned again. "But Will, you have to stay up? You'll be exhausted tomorrow!"

He sat down beside her and pushed some strands of hair behind her ear. "Let me worry about tomorrow. Since tomorrow is strictly off-limits for you anyway, I'm the only one who needs to worry about tomorrow. And it's nearly half two, it's already late…or early. I'd be tired anyway." None of this seemed to have pleased or reassured Mackenzie in the least.

"I'm just worried that you're going to thanking the viewers for washing us again."

"Well, actually I'm thinking that tonight excepted, I'm probably going to be getting some decent sleep over the next few days." He said gently, the ghost of a smile on his face – his hand still hadn't left her cheek.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You see, you scared the absolute shit out of me tonight Mackenzie McHale, and I'm not entirely sure I'll be letting you further than a foot away from me for a while."

Mackenzie tried to hide the smile spreading across her own face. "Well…I can see that being a slight issue when it comes to Monday's broadcast."

"Monday's two days away. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"I'm sorry for scaring you Will." Mac suddenly said in a quiet voice, the smile once more gone from her face, and a far more vulnerable look taking over. She looked even smaller than she had a minute before, and he saw tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Hey!" His arm instantly wrapped under her legs, pulling them over his lap so that she could curl herself into him as he wrapped his arms around her and tucked her head in the space between his collarbone and the crook of his neck. Her arms clasped around his neck and she let out a small sob.

"I'm really sorry, I can't believe that happened. You're right, it was a really stupid thing to do. The only reason I still had a phone is because I'd stuffed it in my bra – if I hadn't had it –"

Will shushed her, gently running his hand through the unblemished side of her hair and shushed her as she started to hiccough.

"Mac, you were drunk. Everyone makes mistakes, and you got unlucky and yours happened to have nasty consequences.

"But you_ did_ scare me shitless. Just…promise me that from now on whenever you leave a night out alone you'll just take the nearest cab you can find, okay?" He felt her nod shakily into his shoulder, and he pressed a light kiss to her hair. "This is just the shock talking. I think you've scared yourself more than anything. You'll be fine once we've got some food in you and you've had a shower and some sleep, yeah? Well, a bath I guess."

She nodded again into his shoulder and muttered something inaudible.

"What'd you say?"

She finally looked up at him, a weak smile trying to break through the drying tears on her face. "I said 'thanks for coming to get me'."

The breath was knocked out of him for a moment as he thought how absurd she was being, and he suddenly felt a little more serious. "Did you doubt for a moment that I would?"

She stared at him wide-eyed, before shaking her head, slightly like she was in a trance; and maybe it was. They weren't aware of who moved first – maybe they did it simultaneously – but Will just knew that his face was getting closer to hers, and he was watching her expression raptly, as though trying to sear it into his memory. He saw her eyes close a second before his lips met hers, and then his did too, melting into the moment and Mackenzie.

It wasn't a long kiss, but her top lip was held in both of his before he kissed her again and rested his forehead against hers, avoiding her sutures.

"I'll always be there when you need me." He gazing at her very deeply and he knew she had understood that he hadn't just been meaning when she was drunk and needing walked home. It was the first time Will had mentioned wanting a second go at "them" but she could tell just from his eyes that he did and that when they got back together, he was in it for forever.

He hadn't realised that he'd been holding his breath waiting for her to do something in response until she leaned upwards and kissed him again, apparently unable to come up with a verbal answer. Her hand curled round his neck, fingers tickling the strands of hair there whilst he rubbed gently circles into the where his hand was resting at her knee joint with his thumb.

Neither of them seemed to want to push their renewed contact with each other too hard, too quickly, because she pulled away seconds later; but to Will it had felt like minutes. He beamed at her, and a bashful smiled appeared on her face too. He looked down to where his hand was at her knee and cleared his throat.

"Well…I'm glad that's cleared up." Mackenzie giggled, and he grinned back at her just as her stomach rumbled. "Okay. Food is coming. Do you think you want to change while I go heat up the Marzetti? Can you manage that on your own?"

She smirked slightly at the last bit and he grimaced slightly before smirking. There really hadn't been away around it.

"Do you have something I can change into?" Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "I think I could probably manage to sit on your bed and change. I don't have to stand up for that."

He put on a (only-half) mock disappointed face. But he knew there'd be plenty of time for other things later once they started spending more time together. She laughed, before forcing her own face into one of mock seriousness. "Getting into the bath might not be so easy though."

She couldn't keep a straight face as the look of surprise flitted across his. Seriously…she must have lost a couple million brain cells tonight – yet she still gave as good (or in this case he'd concede, _better_) as she got. She was still smiling that incredibly sexy smile of mischief that he'd missed to the point of madness these last few years.

"Come on Billy. You'd better help me back into this stupid chair."

He stared at her for a moment, before simply lifting her up bridal style and carrying her there himself. Depositing her on the bed, he turned to his wardrobe and pulled out a pair of his cosiest sweatpants and an old Jets t-shirt that she'd bought him at a match before they'd moved in together.

Handing them to her and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead, right over her cut he made for the kitchen again.

"Some Marzetti coming up for the poor sick woman." She stuck her tongue out at him and he winked.

* * *

_**Reeeeeally hope I'm not the only one who stuffs their phone there on a night out, and that it's not some weird cultural thing that makes me uncivilised. Aaahhh cultural diferences. If you ever get the chance to move a way for a bit, do it. It's weird… but good:p**_

_**P.S. Marzetti is my Dad's speciality dish, and he always makes it for me whenever I go home ^^**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**What it takes to say I love you Pt. 5**_

* * *

Will went back into his room a few minutes later to find Mackenzie tucked up under the comforter and watching CNN on the massive flat screen in across from her. She smiled as she saw him come in carrying two steaming plates on a tray.

Shuffling across the bed on his shins to put the tray between them, and handing her a glass of water and her cutlery, he settled adjacent to her.

"Once you're better we should do this with wine, and in, you know, a restaurant." He said, a cheeky smile on his face. Mackenzie raised her eyebrows in surprise at his sly question.

"Mr. McAvoy, are you asking me out on a date?"

"Depends on your answer." He teased.

"Well…I'll try not to take you wanting to go out for pasta as another dig at my cooking abilities."

He snorted, muttering "abilities" under his breath just loud enough so that she would hear him. She gasped and flicked some of her water at him. "Hey! Remember you're sleeping here. Don't soak the place."

She smiled ruefully at him, and he could read what was going on in her head.

"You haven't answered the question." He prompted, an almost arrogant look on his face. Her eyebrow went, if possible, higher; but he could tell she was amused. He was so glad that they hadn't lost this – this weird form of teasing and humiliation that had always been unique for them; one way they had always shown that they cared about each other, meaning they could leave the tension of work at the office.

"You look so smug right now that I'm tempted to say no." She smirked.

"But…?"

She shrugged, suddenly acting careless as she speared two bits of fusilli on the end of her fork, "But you know I'd never say no to you, so it seems slightly futile."

He grinned back, and she looked through her eyelashes at him as she blew some air onto the steaming hot pasta – catching the look on his face, another smirk appeared on her face, though it quickly disappeared as the pasta went in her mouth.

A look of complete bliss crossed her face as she chewed and she waved her fork at him fanatically until she opened her eyes again, smiling. "Oh my God Will, that's delicious. I can't believe I haven't had it in so long!"

He smiled back at her, pinning some pasta onto his own fork and joining her.

"I always thought it had an extra kick a day later." She delicately crossed her legs and twisted gently to sit across the tray from him. They had both fallen silent, and Will suspected that she had gone quiet for the same reason he had. He knew that _he_ was letting memories of all the times they'd used to do this lazily play out in his mind's eye. Judging by the happy, slightly flushed look on her face – which he thought made her look all the more beautiful – she was indeed doing the same.

"Hey." He said softly. She looked up at him and when she saw he didn't actually want to say anything, just smiling and saying everything with a look, a brilliant smile lit up her face and he knew they were at the same place. She blushed and held his gaze for a second before returning to her fast-disappearing pasta.

He hadn't realised how hungry he actually was; and it turned out that he wasn't far behind her in demolishing the meal.

As she finished, she let herself fall sideways against the pillows, her hand resting on her now full stomach, her eyes closed, finally looking peaceful enough to sleep. Gobbling up the last remainders of his own plate, he reached over and gently took the fork still in her hand and put it on the tray. She didn't stir.

Spotting a stray bit of tomato sauce clinging onto her upper lip, he reached over and gently wiped it away with his thumb. Her eyes flickered open and she shot him a lazy smile.

"Thanks Will."

"You were saving some for later." He joked, and she let out a giggle. "Come on, Kenz. Try and drink a little more water before we let you doze off. You must be pretty dehydrated as it is."

Gently putting his hands under her arms he lifted her back into a sitting position, and pushed the glass into her hands encouragingly. He could see she was fading fast, but she blinked sleepily, and started to take a couple of sips as he lifted the tray from the bed and went to deposit it back in the kitchen.

He grabbed a can of Red Bull from the refrigerator and quickly gulped it down before padding back through to the bedroom.

Mackenzie was in the middle of trying to pull the sheets out from under her without hurting her ankles. He hurried over to help.

"Here." He held her legs up as they pulled the sheets down, and then pulled them over her, before slipping his own shoes off and turning to change into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt himself. He only felt slightly self-conscious of himself in front of her. After all, not so long ago he had stumbled out of office in his boxers for the whole staff, and Mackenzie's ex-boyfriend, to see.

When he turned back to her, her eyes were flickering as she tried to stay awake. He slipped in beside her, and gently pulled her into his chest. She wriggled as close to him as she could, and her head instinctively found the same spot that it had used to occupy every night, nestled just below his shoulder blade, tucked in by his arm. One hand crept across his chest and hooked itself into his t-shirt as she snuggled in with him watching her, smiling the whole time as she got settled.

Mackenzie had her eyes shut, however; her breathing levelling out as she started to succumb to sleep and it ghosted pleasantly across his chest. He couldn't stop smiling, even though he knew what she – they? – had gone through that night…here she was (albeit injured) snuggled in his arms, like she was meant to be.

One arm was gently tucking her into his side, going round her back with his hand gently resting on her waist; and he used his other to push her hair back where it had slipped down over her face. He tried to make sure that the injured side of her head, which was resting against his arm, wasn't leaning on him too heavily – but she was out of it now anyway. As he gently caressed her face, she barely blinked in her sleep. She had always been a bit of a dead sleeper. She hardly moved at all.

He'd been worried that might have changed after being embedded; he supposed that she would have had to learn to be more of a light sleeper – but at least at the moment, she was in a deep, deep sleep, looking totally at peace.

ooooo

He watched her for the whole two hours; though by the end of it, he was fighting off the Sand Man himself. He thought he might join her in a nap after he had woken her up, and then he'd get up properly afterwards.

She didn't like being woken. But she did it adorably.

Her face crumpled into a groggy frown, and she moaned into his chest her evident disapproval of this intrusion into her slumber.

"Billy." She whined softly, her voice heavy from sleep. He cracked a smile, and gently ran his hand through her hair, his other hand rubbing circles into her back to coax her back to consciousness.

"Come on, Mac. Just wake up to drink some more water and then I'll let you sleep again. I might even join you."

She mumbled something he couldn't understand, but he gathered that it wasn't anything she would want her mother to hear her saying. He reached over her with his left arm to grab the water glass from where she had left it on the nightstand.

Nudging her with the arm under her head, she groggily pushed herself onto her elbows slightly – enough to be able to sip more water from the glass he was holding out to her.

"What's the time?" She asked croakily. He offered a smile, running a finger down her cheek, which she leaned into.

"It's just gone five, Kenz."

"Ooft." She exhaled as she said this, before dropping back down onto the pillows and curling into him once more. Before she settled completely, he nestled further down beside her, and onto his side facing her. He'd set his alarm on his blackberry for two hours' time.

Feeling the extra space between them, Mackenzie shuffled forwards to him, and snuggled her head into the crook of his arm, tucking her arm around his waist. His face pressed gently into her hair and he fell asleep very quickly, his arms wrapped around her as tightly as he dared.

ooooo

As he woke up two hours later to the incessant and incredibly horrific noise of his alarm, he completely understood Mackenzie's reluctance to wake up earlier.

She could obviously hear the alarm too, and squirmed next to him, unimpressed.

He gently extracted himself from her, smiling at her disappointed moan as she reached blindly for him next to her, finding nothing. He leaned back over her and pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

"I'm just going to phone Charlie, Kenz. I'll be back to get you in a few."

She settled instantly at his words, tucking in on herself and curling into a ball.

He paused at the door, seemingly slightly addicted to the sight of her snuggled into his bed, before remembered why he had gotten up.

Sinking back into the sofa, he waited for Charlie to pick up.

"Good morning, Will. A bit early for you isn't it? Especially on a Saturday? And especially after a night out." Charlie had clearly been up for a while and was sounding far too cheerful.

His voice sounded fresh and alert, and definitely not as bleary as Will felt. He also sounded annoyingly perky, like he wanted to tease Will about his hangover. Little did he know that Will's hangover had been killed the moment he had sprinted to the elevator.

"Yeah, good morning to you too. No need to sound so smug." Charlie laughed on the other end of the phone.

"What can I do for you? I'm seeing you in a couple of hours anyway right? The Primary prep. I'll only be in until about four, I'm afraid." Will sighed, trying to rub some of the sleep out of his eyes.

"Well, actually that's why I'm calling. I won't be in much today either, and Mac won't be in at all."

There was silence on the other end as Charlie processed this, clearly running through possible scenarios in his mind. After a minute he spoke again, a slightly more wary tone to his voice now.

"What happened?"

"Well…Mac and Sloan headed to the Jazz bar after Hang Chews. Sloan bumped into a friend and Mac left. She got mugged and pretty badly beat up –" There was sharp hiss down the phone as Charlie heard this.

"Jesus! How is she?" Will realised how tired he sounded when he next spoke.

"She's – she's not too bad, considering. She can't walk on her ankles right now though, and she has a pretty mean concussion. I'm not letting her anywhere near the office for a few days."

"She's with you?"

"Yeah. She called me after it happened and I went to get her. God…she was a mess, Charlie." He didn't know why he was all of a sudden choking up. He supposed that with the exception of the ambulance bay, he hadn't really had a chance to come to terms with it himself; and in the ambulance bay it had still been too fresh, too raw…things were still uncertain. And since then he had been keeping it together so that Mackenzie could let it out…

"It's okay Will." Charlie's gentle, calming voice reached his ears, bringing him back to the present. "You got to her. She's okay."

Will sniffed loudly, rolling his stinging eyes to the ceiling. "She just – I thought for a moment they'd – that they had -"

"Hey! You keep it together down there! That girl's done more than her fair share of taking care of you recently, so you damn well hold it together for her, you hear me? She's hurt her ankles, and what else? Tell me – you should say this out loud; it'll help."

Will took a shaky breath and got up; walking over to the balcony, hoping the cool winter's air would clear his head.

"A pretty nasty bash to the back of the head. A few scrapes on her face and arms, some bruising on her abdomen. They think they kicked her –"

"I asked for injuries, not causes." The older man said a little softer. "You can't think about that Will. It won't help. She's at your apartment?"

"Yeah. Presbyterian first and then we brought her back here. She's asleep right now, but I have to wake her up every couple of hours until three. She's got a pretty big scare."

He could almost see Charlie nodding at the other end of the phone.

"Okay. Then this is what we'll do: I'll hold the fort until four, and then you can come and pull a couple of hours, and then Jim can handle the rest – let you get back to Mackenzie. That sound acceptable?"

"Sloan, Charlie. I was going to come in and let her –"

"Don't worry about Sloan. I'll take her aside before I tell the others. Unless you're planning on calling her before? You can't come in. If Mackenzie can't walk and needs waking up every so often, you need to be at home. Jim or I can always come over and keep an eye on her for a bit when you come in. But they _do_ need you for a little bit today, just for guidance. Especially if they don't have Mac."

"She shouldn't hear it over the phone. She's going to kick herself pretty hard."

"Then _I'll_ tell her. And I'll explain why you're not there to do it. She'll understand." Charlie said gently, but firmly. Will nodded to himself.

"Let me know when you do."

"I will." There was a pause, as Charlie seemed to wait for Will to say something else. He didn't. "Okay, then. You get back to Mackenzie. And give her a kiss from me. I'll be over there to stop her going mad at some point in the next few days." Will managed a smirk at this. "We'll somehow manage without you both for a day or two, I'm sure. You guys have a good team."

"We do." He said quietly.

"Right. Check in every couple of hours; let us know how she's doing. I'll text you once Sloan knows, and I'll see you at four."

"Alright. I'll see you then."

"Take care of her Will." And he hung up.

* * *

_**Early morning sunrise, writing my favourite couple, with Sinatra, Bennett, Darin and Charles going quietly in the background. Good morning, guys :)**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Well, hello there strangers! Hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year! :)**_

_**What it takes to say I love you Ch. 6**_

* * *

"Charlie, have you heard from Will or Mackenzie? Neither of them is in yet." Jim frowned, going through his notes from the night before as the post-hangover News Night staffers gathered in the bullpen to get going with the afternoon's work.

"Hey, don't force them in too early if they've finally managed to get over themselves and sort it out." Kendra said under her breath, but as the entire room had gone quiet as Jim had spoken, more than a few people heard her. She earned herself a pointed look of disapproval from Jim, which nearly chastised her, before she decided that she wasn't going to be put off by his look. She shrugged and simply replied, "What? You know I've got a point."

He tutted at her and turned back to Charlie, eyebrows raised in question.

"Everyone, you're just gonna start the day off as normal – I'll explain why in a moment – but any questions, and you come to me. Jim you'll lead the research, and if you're really stuck then you can call Will. As I said, I'll explain in a minute, but Sloan? Can I have a word with you first? Uh, Jim? You should probably come too."

Sloan and Jim exchanged very confused looks and uncertainly followed Charlie into Mackenzie's office.

"Where's Mackenzie, Charlie? Where's Will?" Jim said as soon as the door had swung shut. Charlie eyed him warily, before turning his gaze on Sloan.

"Will wanted to tell you this himself, but he's a little preoccupied at the moment." He sat down on the edge of Mackenzie's desk and crossed his arms after scratching his brow and sighing. "When Mackenzie left the bar last night, she ran into some trouble and got beaten up and mugged."

Sloan's hand flew to her mouth, her eyebrows contracting, and Jim looked stunned for a minute.

"Is – is she okay?" Sloan managed, her voice slightly hoarse. Charlie nodded, placing a reassuring hand on her arm.

"She called Will and he made sure she got to a hospital. They stitched her up and sent her home. She's at Will's now so that he can keep an eye on her. But, her injuries mean that he needs to be home today. He's said that he's coming in at 4 for a couple of hours – I'll probably go and watch her while he's here – but Jim, you'll have to handle the rest I'm afraid."

The shocked look had vanished from Jim's face, and had been replaced by a strong, determined expression that impressed Charlie. Clearly Mac had trained this guy well. He could tell that Jim wouldn't let Mackenzie down even if it meant physical injury.

"We'll manage Charlie." He said firmly.

"Good man. Sloan?" The young woman looked up, still slightly startled at the news of her friend, and looked as though she was trying to say something. Charlie's softened at her anxiety and once more tried to reassure her. "As I said, Will wanted to come in and tell you face-to-face because he thought you'd blame yourself. Obviously Mackenzie needs him right now, so he can't be here, but he wanted me to tell you that. It wasn't your fault, Sloan; Mac just got unlucky."

He could see that Sloan wasn't entirely prepared to believe him, but she seemed to bite back whatever it was she was thinking and simply nodded shortly. He returned it and smiled slightly at both of them, trying to be reassuring. In all honesty, he was quite looking forward to seeing Mackenzie later just to see for himself that she was okay. He had the distinct impression that Will had been holding out on him on the phone earlier.

"Okay. I'm just going to tell the others that Mackenzie's had an accident. I'll leave it to your discretion whether or not you want to tell them any more than that. Today just goes as planned. Anything you would usually ask Will and Mackenzie, those questions come to you and me, Jim."

"Yes, sir."

"Okay. Let's go."

OOOOO

Across town, Will was feeding a rough looking Mackenzie some toast and Tropicana, as she cancelled her bank cards. The doctors had said she could sleep properly twelve hours after she had been released, which mean Mac had been counting down the next hour with as much anticipation as her exhaustion allowed her. Will had decided to wake her up properly this time so that she could eat and wash her hair before her had to leave in a couple of hours.

Charlie had called a few hours before and said that he would come and keep an eye on Mackenzie while Will was at the office if that made him feel better. He'd accepted his friend's offer with no hesitation, but a slight smirk on his face as he imagined the ridiculous pout that would undoubtedly cross Mackenzie's face when she found out.

But it was equally satisfying to just lean against the doorway of his room watching a peaceful Mac curled on her side, her body softly rising every time she took a breath; just to have the proof before his eyes that she was okay.

They'd had to prop both her ankles up on pillows – which made sleeping a little awkward, as it meant her legs twisted every time she had turned too far to one side. The only remedy they had found was for Will to lie next to her; she seemed to still if she was next to him. He got the impression that the tossing and turning might be nightmares (she had always been a pretty deep, unmoving sleeper as far as he remembered) but when he asked she denied it, and cuddled into him some more, claiming that it was just the itchy scratches and bandages.

Despite having slept for quite a while, being forced to wake up every so often had made Mackenzie look worse than she had when she'd left the hospital. There were deep bags under her eyes, and the eyes themselves were red and bloodshot from tiredness. He sat beside her as she munched her way through the toast, pushing the hair back from her face, and gently massaging her shoulder.

"So when are you going into work?" She said through a mouthful of toast.

"I'll go in at four to make sure everything's running smoothly, stay for a couple of hours and then come back."

"I'm just planning on sleeping Will." He didn't take the hint, simply ignoring it.

"That's fine. Charlie's going to be here while I'm away –" Almost as predicted, Mackenzie rolled her eyes and looked at him in mild exasperation.

"I'm going to be asleep Will? What do you think could possibly happen in a couple of hours -?" She said it softly, but Will shook his head to stop her talking, gently kissing her forehead and looking her seriously in the eyes. For once in her life she actually fell silent and waited for him to say something.

"Mac, _I_ want someone here. You don't remember what I said last night about not letting you out of my sight for a while?" She blushed slightly and looked down at her plate. He leaned forward and gently tilted her head up with his, pressing his lips softly to hers. She let out a soft moan of disappointment when he pulled back and he couldn't help the smile.

"I could get used to that." She said quietly, before opening her eyes again and wondering if she had said too much too soon. He waited a moment before smiling softly at her, his fingers still lacing themselves through her hair.

"Well…just as well you're going to be stuck here for a couple of days. We might have a chance to talk…properly." He saw the light spark in her eyes and was sure he felt his stomach flip in response. This had been a long time coming, and the thought of it scared the shit out of him – though admittedly not quite as much as a battered Mackenzie, slumped against an alley wall; and that was how he knew he was ready to do this. A small thing called priorities.

"So, I would much rather there was someone here to keep an eye on you…just in case. Okay? Humour me and don't argue?"

There was a glint of amusement in her eyes at the thought of Will thinking that she ever wouldn't argue with him – but she could also see the worry still etched into his face, and so eventually bit her lip, nodding. She put her empty plate down beside her, and snuggled her head into his shoulder as far as her rested feet would allow, melting slightly at the feeling of his arm slipping around her shoulder and holding her there.

* * *

_**Author's note:**_

_**I cannot begin to explain how hectic my life has mysteriously become this last month or so, filled with complicated coursework and exams which was then made all the more difficult by a broken elbow. Typing has been a painful nuisance.**_

_**Anyway, there is a little more coming soonish(I know this is short), but I'm just about to head into exam time so it won't be overwhelming I'm afraid. I've missed writing though, and see that there are loads of lovely new and updated fics to aid and abate me in my inevitable hours of procrastination. Can't wait to read them! And as ever, friends…apologies for the delay. It's like my trademark, which as ever, I feel guilty about lol.**_


	7. Chapter 7

**_What it takes to say I love you Ch. 7_**

**_So this chapter is so different from how it started out. Sorry Katy, it's actually not as sexy as I promised. Not much, actually. Lots of angst and Will and Mac, and a lot of unintentional descriptiveness. Some Charlie too at the end. Very long though, so I hope that it makes up for it. _**

**_For KatyKat, who needs a reality check on who should be having sexual feelings for whom in this fandom ;)_**

* * *

Mac was sitting up on Will's bed, typing furiously away on his laptop. She had convinced Will to let her use it by pleading that she only wanted to check the headlines and her emails. As soon as he had gone out of the room to take a phone call, however, she had narrowed her eyes, listening keenly to be sure that he was walking away before she quickly opened an email from one of her old producer friends in Baghdad who had been dropping hints for weeks about doing a piece comparing Syria to Iraq. She argued to herself that it wasn't technically work, more of a correspondence between friends that happened to potentially be a project. At least that was her excuse and she would be sticking to it.

She became so engrossed by Julia's ideas for what they might tackle that she didn't even hear the soft footfalls down the corridor outside that signalled Will's return. It wasn't until his gaze became so powerful that she could feel his eyes boring into her that she looked up, her determination to argue with him about what she was doing slowly seeping out of her even as she raised her head; instead fixing a slightly pitiful, nervous look that she knew had been as effective as puppy dog eyes on him numerous times in the past. She was slightly reassured to find a bemused smile tugging at his lips as he leaned casually against the door frame.

"So…you know how I said you had to rest this morning? And that I would let you onto the laptop on the one condition that you wouldn't do any work?" He had that annoying smug tone that demonstrated just how easily he could see right through her, and which always made her feel like all of the cunning she had accumulated over the years, and which worked on just about everyone else she had ever met, was instantaneously smashed into smithereens in front of her and she was laid strangely bare. Which for some reason she found incredibly sexy.

Thinking fast, and trying to remember how the excuse she had formed in her head was supposed to go, she found herself suddenly powerless and feeling slightly guilty, like a kid that's been caught red-handed in the cookie jar as Will's smirking face held her gaze completely. Her survival instincts only kicked in when he was less than a foot away from the edge of the bed and she suddenly scrambled to close the window she had been browsing, but failed as he swooped down and snatched the laptop from her.

With the air of a teacher unfolding a note he had found her passing to her girlfriend in class, he looked mockingly down at her – and she couldn't help the small roll of her eyes and defeated smile which crossed her face as she realised that she was well and truly busted – before sliding his gaze dramatically to the screen.

"I was just replying to a friend." Mac smirked.

"Mmhmmph." Will huffed, lips together and scrolling down the email. "Yes, an excellent catch up the two of you seem to be having, which sounds like it has absolutely nothing to do with anything journalistic at all –"

"Well, as we're both journalists," Mac teased, matching is exaggerated, sarcastic tone, "It was bound to come up."

Will looked down at her, the bemused look still evident on his features, before his eyes softened and he closed the laptop, shuffling down next to her and taking her hand.

"Mac – please? Just for today, just until I get back later on, can you please just try to rest? For me? Please."

Mackenzie pouted. "You know that I've just spent like the last twelve hours sleeping, right?"

"Actually yes, I do know that. It was a rather comfy twelve hours." He teased. She smacked him playfully on the arm, only half-annoyed.

"Yeah, easy for you to say mister. You're not the one with snapped ankles." His expression immediately softened and became concerned once more. Gently tucking her hair behind her ears, he looked her over carefully – something which had become a bit of a habit since they had gotten home that morning. It was almost like he was reassuring himself that she really had gotten out of hospital relatively unscathed, even though he had been there the whole time and seen it from himself.

"How are you feeling now?" He asked softly, the thumb on the hand which was in her hair gently stroking her cheek. He loved the way it instantly relaxed her face and made her look sleepy again. He really wanted her to rest up; he didn't quite believe her earlier when she said she was just going to sleep whilst he was gone. Despite essentially not having the use of her legs, there was a significant part of him which was paranoid that she would still manage to find her way to his office computer if he left her unsupervised. Thank God Charlie had offered to come over.

"A little better." She said honestly, shooting him a gentle smile, appreciation and gratitude shining from her eyes. He smiled back.

"Good. I'm glad." He was happy just to look at her for a moment, which meant he caught the slight crease of her brow and hitch in her breath as she clearly hesitated over saying something. "Kenz, what is it?"

She frowned at him slightly, looking suddenly nervous.

"You said Charlie was coming over?" Will nodded, confused. "Well…"

"Spill it Kenz, you know you can tell me."

"Well, I - I just don't want him to see me like this – I feel disgusting –"

"Mac –"

"No, listen – I'm not saying I don't want him here, I'm just saying…I'm just saying that I'd like to…freshen up…first." Her speech came to a slow, juddering stop as she saw understanding flash across Will's face as it dawned on him why she was sounding suddenly nervous. She was too focussed on his answer to show it on her face, but she found the slight popping of his eyeballs to be incredible endearing. He gulped slightly.

"Uh – you weren't kidding about the bath?" He said weakly, trying to make light of what she was essentially asking from him.

"Well, what did you think Will – that I wasn't going to wash for three weeks?" she shot him a bemused look, trying to be more confident. "Look, I –"

"No, Kenz, it's okay. Come on – it's not like I haven't – you know – seen it all before." He cringed, knowing how crass that sounded, and he only felt worse after a smirk flashed across her face at his word choice. It just hadn't really occurred to him that he'd be seeing Mackenzie naked…yet. Well, not this soon anyway; but of course now that he thought about it, it seemed obvious. "I'm leaving in forty minutes, is that enough time?"

"I'm human Will, not a sponge. That's plenty of time." She grinned at him, tentatively, and he laughed nervously, his fingers twitching at his sides, which she found adorable.

"Okay. Well – let's get you off this bed, then."

OOOOO

He thought that it seemed pointless to wheel her less than ten feet to the bathroom - though the delight that he usually took in the fact that the journey from bed to bathroom made his groggy mornings more bearable was suddenly highly inconvenient given the rapid outpouring of sweat on his clammy hands as he stood before Mac, though he couldn't think of the reason why she was all of a sudden looking so red and staring at her feet. They had been conversing rather well not ten seconds ago.

Feeling awkward and also strangely excited - at first he felt a little disgusted with himself before it occurred to his brain that the reason he was excited was because Mac was so deeply trusting him here, and nothing more. At least not yet. They were _so_ not there yet. Not that he hadn't wanted to be ever since he'd laid eyes on her standing in the bullpen on that fateful day in April two years ago.

Two years ago...it was a mark of how strong his conflicted feelings for her were (and in particular, how strong the negative side of that conflict was) that he had managed to keep his hands to himself all that time...that he hadn't even kissed her. It wasn't like he hadn't thought about it. A lot. But even on the rare occasion that he walked her to her door after a tipsy night at Hang Chews, he had never given in. And the disappointed flicker of light in her eyes had killed him every time. But she never mentioned it. She did him the kindness of pretending these occurances never happened; even though he knew each one was basically another twist of the knife.

He loved Mackenzie - really, he did. He always would, and though he'd denied it for the better part of five years, he always had. He loved that she was independent, and witty, and smart and funny, and yet despite all this, downright adorable...but she was also stunning. At any function they had ever gone to, she had constantly had someone in the room eyeing her up and he had always gripped her hand a little more tightly when he spotted one of these admirers - not because he was jealous or worried, but because he was so thrilled that despite all these guys around her, she wanted him. And god, had they been good together. It was impossible not to think about it. Maybe it was dirty, impure, perverted - _whatever_ - given the crap he piled on her on a weekly - hell, _daily_ basis - but he couldn't help himself. You never stop replaying some of the best times of your life. That's what good memories are for, and Lord only knew he needed them where he could get them; and never had he had so many than in the two glorious years he had spent glued to her side.

So, the point to all of this thinking (how had he managed to think all of that so fast? He had barely been standing here twenty seconds?) Anyway, he forgave himself the flashbacks to days gone by reminding him of what he was about to see, because he didn't regret them, and he wouldn't apologise for them, but more than that: he loved all of her...but she just so happened to be the most beautiful woman in the world in his eyes. He just really hoped she knew it.

OOOOO

She was still looking down at her feet, her toes doing that adorable curling movement that he could remember waking to in the morning, when his eyes would blearily open to find her staring at him with that nervous smile on her face that she would use whenever she had an idea: something she wanted to do that day, or a pitch for a story she wasn't sure he'd approve of...or just wanting him to cook her his breakfast specialty and then maybe have a lazy Sunday afternoon together.

Deciding to let her have her moment and offer her silent support instead of trying to talk her back to reality, he slowly but gently slipped his arm under her knees, and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as she seemed to subconsciously slip her arm around his shoulders as his slid around her waist.

She was silent as they travelled the short distance to the en suite, and Will started getting slightly worried. This had been her request and she had seemed so certain that she was okay with it; her confidence had been a comfort to him! But now he was worried that she was having second thoughts. He completely understood, but still...it would hurt if she now decided that she _couldn't_ trust him; no matter how much he agreed with her that he might deserve it.

Gently sitting her down on the edge of the large tub, he grabbed two towels to cushion her ankles off the tiled floor. She was still out of it.

Timidly, he raised his fingers under her chin, but did not force her up to look at him; he wanted her to make that step.

"Mac?" His other hand rested gently on her knee as he tried to coax her into looking at him. Nothing. He sighed, quickly looking down at himself so that his disappointment with this turn of events would be less obvious...hopefully. "Look, Kenz. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. If you'd rather, we can figure out a different - a -" He had no clue what alternative there might be, but if it was what she wanted then he'd find it. "Another way of doing this. This is too soon - too intense for you -"

At these words her head finally snapped up and she looked at him as though she was a deer caught in on coming traffic: wild and panicked. She started shaking her head firmly, but words escaped her. He was very confused, trying to read what was going on in her head just by looking at her eyes, but obviously something was going on with her that he didn't know about. Not knowing what to do, he schooled his expression to look a little more reassuring and patient, and gently squeezed the hand on her knee to try and calm her down.

It seemed to work. After a moment her voice returned, albeit haltingly.

"I - Will - I mean - just - it's not _that,_ okay?" This time she looked like she was trying to reassure him. "I trust you, truly. Trust you like no one else. And I know what you mean, but it's not too intense - we'll get there...I hope..."

Her ramble seemed to falter slightly as uncertainty and - was that fear? - caused her eyes to widen again. Her throat caught.

"We will get there Mac...I hope for that too." He said quietly. It was the right thing to say. A timid smile softened her features, and her hand came to rest against his cheek.

"I wasn't worried that you weren't going to be a gentlemen." She teased gently. he managed a smile at this as well. "And it's good to know that we're on the same page about...well, about us. But - it's just there's something I haven't - well, there's something we don't talk about."

Will raised his eyebrows, looking slightly incredulous. Mackenzie narrowed her eyes at him in exasperation.

"Okay, I meant except the obvious."

Will laughed. "Okay. Well, if it's not that then I'm lost. I have no idea what you're talking about."

Mac paused again.

"Mackenzie, do I really have to tell you that you can tell me anything...again?"

She took a breath. "It's just something I need to warn you about, really. Because I'm not sure if you know..."

His brain was working overdrive, trying to put the pieces together. And then it hit him. He looked up at her, annoyed that she wasn't looking at him again or else she'd have seen the look on his face and read it, and would know that he knew what she was on about.

Gripping the knee he held in one hand tighter still, and bringing his other to rest a little further up her other leg, he he steadied himself on his own knees and brought himself a little closer to her, trying to get across to her that he was not going to run from her; he wasn't going anywhere.

"Mac, I know." Her eyes snapped back to his, looking vulnerable in way he had never seen before.

He had seen her cry at her Grandmother's funeral, take a hell of a telling off from her mother, seen her come undone around him as he held her in her arms and then watched her fall fast asleep...but he'd never seen her vulnerable like this; and it nearly broke him.

"How could I not know, Mac? You think I let you walk out that door five years ago and then stopped caring about you? That I just flipped a switch? That I watched you go off to one of the bloodiest, deadliest places on Earth and didn't think about you every day, wondering if you were still alive over there?"

He could tell that she had. And now that he thought about it, now that he remembered, he understood why. God he had been a dick! The last thing he had said to her was something he wasn't proud of. Even though he'd been pissed at her, he regretted what he had said. Because it had been lies. All of it. He _did _love her, and he _did_ want to see her again, and he _didn't_ hate her - he knew even then that he'd never be able to hate her. But that was what he had told her. That was what she had taken away with her to remember him by.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Kenz. I am so, so, sorry. But everything I just said was true, even if most of what I said that day was a lie. But I did -" His voice suddenly caught in his throat and he had to stop, although he was determined to hold his gaze to hers, determined not to give her any more reasons to doubt what he was saying. "I did keep an eye on you. Followed every story you covered - although it hurt, I'm not going to lie to you. But - well, one morning Charlie called me when I was just getting into the building - I hadn't even made it to the lift, let alone my office - and he told me that he needed to see me.

I didn't sleep for days, Kenz. I almost - I almost flew to Germany, but I didn't think you'd see me...and I wasn't sure if I could face you. But when you posted your next story...I was proud of you Mac. You were still the woman I fell in love with: determined, always picking yourself back up again. You even had the nerve to go after the people behind that riot - it was the first thing you did and part of me wanted to go over there and slap you for being so stupid, so reckless, but I could already hear what you'd say to me in my head."

He didn't know when he'd started smiling, but he had; and his heart swelled as he managed to pull a tearful smile from the shocked expression that had appeared on her face when he had explained to her his reaction to her stabbing.

"The other part of me was just proud. Proud in the same way that I'd always been proud you were so driven, and determined and brave." He gently palmed her cheek, his thumb wiping away a stray tear that had managed to escape from her left eye. They just stared at each other for a few moments. Mackenzie seemed to be in some sort of trance, just staring into Will's eyes like there was an invisible string between them holding her there; Will on the other hand was thinking very carefully about what he was intending to do next.

Still not breaking eye contact with her, his hands quietly moved to the bottom of her t-shirt, and gently curled around the hem before they stopped.

"May I?"

From the look on her face she hadn't quite been expecting it, but she slowly nodded as though she was still in that trance.

Searching her face once more to be sure that she was okay with this, he slowly lifted the shirt up and pulled it up the arms that she raised when he reached her shoulder. When her face reappeared from out of the fabric, however, her eyes hadn't seemed to move from his face.

He hoped he managed to give her what was a reassuring smile - although it was a poor excuse for a smile given how nervous he was about seeing what he knew he was about to find.

Taking a breath, he lowered his eyes from her face, letting them travelling down her neck, over her collarbone - his heart jumped a little as his eyes found the valley of skin where her breasts fell on her chests (he would not stare at them) - and then onto her flat stomach where they were drawn immediately to the left, and the new addition there that was not in his (vivid) memories from their previous relationship.

It was crooked, not a smooth line. His imagination began building the scene behind his eyes as he stared at it.

It hadn't just gone in and out. The surging of the crowd at the riot would have tugged at the incision, the firm hand of the attacker thrusting the blade into her body, the way her body must have instantly tried to get away from it. That was why it was crooked. He hadn't heard details; hadn't heard hers or Jim's version of the story, but somehow he just knew he was right.

He didn't even notice that his hand had come up to trace the scar; hadn't noticed that hers hand gently tangled itself in the tuft of hair at the bottom of his neck. Hadn't noticed that once again there were tears falling from her eyes. He just knew that something still didn't make sense.

He stared at the mark on her abdomen, trying to work it out in his head like he had before. Like before, he succeeded, but it was so ridiculous to him, so outrageous, that he quickly looked up at her again, ready to question her with his theory but was brought to a halt by the wet tracks on her face, and her trembling lip. He knew then that he didn't really need to ask. He was right. But he would ask anyway, because she needed to hear the answer.

"You thought that I'd think it was ugly? You thought that I'd think it would make you less beautiful?"

Once again, she was clearly thrown by his deductions. She just stared at him, mouth slightly open and frozen that way. He hated it.

He had known that if they were really serious about making this work then there would have to be conversations, and that those conversations wouldn't be pretty; but he hadn't expected them a) to be this soon b) to be this deep this soon c) to be _this_ deep at all. He thought she had more confidence in his recent renewed feelings towards her. Obviously they might have a longer way to go than he thought.

He had a sinking feeling that young Habib might have himself another patient before too long. Mentally he smirked; poor guy. Together they would drive him to a level of insanity never before experienced by psychiatrists. Oh the irony.

Shhh, WIll! Focus! Mac!

Right.

Doing something that he was fairly certain was well beyond any stage of intimacy that they were ready to be at just yet, Will moved forward on his knees, gently pressing his lips to the mark just under Mackenzie's left breast, fully anticipating the flinch that jolted him when she felt it. He determinately stayed there, counting at least ten seconds before he gently leaned back and met her eyes once more.

Given the shock that was in her eyes, he was honestly surprised that she hadn't passed out again. The hand at the back of his neck tightened as her mouth opened and closed a few times, as he waited patiently for her to accept what had just happened.

Eventually, all she could manage was a gulp and a surprised "Will?" He almost laughed. She was so blind. But again...he had to take some blame for that. Okay. A lot of blame.

"Mackenzie...you will always be stunning to me. This scar? This doesn't make me think you're any less beautiful than the day I met you; when you walked into that ballroom in a silk black dress and ridiculously high heels. If you walked into work in a bin bag you would still look gorgeous."

Her eyes softened and he noticed with relief that at least the tears had stopped.

"I'm so thankful for this scar, Mac. It shows you survived. It shows you're still alive. And I cannot begin to express how thankful I am for that."

HIs voice had become desperately quiet and he haven't even noticed. It was as though, despite the fact that they were the only ones in the apartment, there was a vacuum, and they were both hyper-aware of the sounds and movements of the other.

Once again, Mackenzie found herself lost for words, and all she could do was pull Will's lips gently to her own, enjoying the blissful look on his face when she pulled away, his eyes shut in an expression of complete relaxation. Curling a hand around his ear, she managed a smile.

"Okay, Billy. Let's do this."

OOOOO

Will was slightly flustered as he hurried to meet the sharp, rather playful sounding knock on the door, which could only mean that Charlie had arrived. Seriously, how was it possible for that man to have a 'playful' knock? A playful glint in his eye, and even a built-in spring in his step, Will just about understood, but a playful knock? The man was an enigma.

Pausing at the front door, trying to rearrange his features to look less, well, guilty, Will fidgeted with his collar before slapping a jovial smile on his face and opening his apartment door to reveal his friend and his mentor beaming happily back at him with that glowing smile that Charlie always seemed to manage, even on the worst days. It made Will's own smile turn genuine, because how could you not smile back at Charlie Skinner? The man exuded warmth. He was quite simply happily exothermic.

Charlie Skinner was also a smart man, however, and it took him all of three seconds to notice the dilated pupils, the plump lips and the fading, but still discernible sounds of someone who was attempting to breathe normally again. He smirked.

Damn. Will thought he'd managed to right himself, but this was Charlie. Nothing got past Charlie. Ever.

Charlie may not have been able to deduce that Will had literally just finished helping Mackenzie into a fresh pair of sweats and another old t-shirt (not that she'd really needed help), before getting caught up in a rather long, languid make-out session as he tried to reassure her without words that contrary to her earlier concerns, he could never be disappointed by any part of her, body, mind or soul; but he was fairly certain, given his knowing smirk, that Charlie knew they had been doing something.

Rolling his eyes, but saying nothing incriminating, he stepped back graciously to allow his friend into the room and closed the door behind him, preparing for the inevitable speech that he was about to be given.

It shocked him therefore, to turn and find Charlie hanging his overcoat on the stand next to the wall and then looking around for Mac as he bounced on the balls of his feet - there was no sign of any forthcoming verbal communication at all. He just looked expectantly at Will.

Still surprised, Will forced himself to open his mouth. "Oh, Mac's through next door. She was getting sleepy again, so she's lying down."

Silently, Charlie dutifully bustled off through the door that Will had indicated, as he frowned, puzzled, after the older man; and as a small part in the back of his brain warned him forebodingly that before the day was out Charlie would find a time to corner him.

Shaking his head, and picking up Charlie's briefcase to tuck in behind the coat stand so as to prevent anyone tripping over it, he followed Charlie back to his bedroom, but stopped in the doorway when he clapped eyes on the scene before him.

Mac was lying on the bed half-tucked under the comforter, just the way he'd left her (although she, like him, had clearly rearranged her hair hastily to how it had been before his fingers had attacked it). She was still fresh-faced and slightly shiny-looking from her bath and he thought that it gave her a certain glow. But that wasn't what was making him smile.

No, it was the way she was looking at Charlie, eyes crinkled with warmth and happiness as he gave her news of the staffers and what was going on in the newsroom. Everyone sent their love and well wishes, and there was something about Jim and Sloan deteriorating into a ridiculous argument over what kind of flowers to send her.

This was something he had berated himself for doing in the first several months of her return: watching her interact with other people she cared about so that he could see her laugh and smile and enjoy herself; see her make other people smile. Charlie had that warm grin back on his face again as he gently held her hand and listened to Mac telling him how helpful Will had been so far.

Charlie looked over his shoulder at the younger man, his eyebrows raised in mild amusement to which WIll just shrugged nonchalantly and spread his arms in mock outrage, "What? You look so shocked, like I'm known to be some sort of man-child, incapable of looking after people."

Charlie was the only one, other than Mac, who would understand what it took for him to make that joke; the only other person he had worked with whom he had shared his childhood with. Seeing these two people in his house, smiling and laughing together, made his toes inexplicably tingle, and a cosy heat seem to creep through his veins.

He blinked as Mac cleared her throat, completely unaware that he had even zoned out. He looked blankly at his friends, not understanding the questioning, bemused looks that they were giving him.

"What?"

"Don't you have a job to be getting to, or something?" Mackenzie asked, laughter tickling at her voice.

It flooded back to him. The reason Charlie was here, is because he's supposed to be leaving; and his jacket was hanging on the back of the sofa and his bag was at the door...his mind had caught up. Knowing he was ready to go, he smiled back at his guests.

"Okay, yes - right. Um - if you want anything to eat or drink, just raid the fridge and take what you fancy. Though not you, Mac. Charlie, if this woman so much as tries to lift a leg over the side of that bed for any other reason than to use the bathroom, confiscate her laptop privileges." Charlie rolled his eyes as Mackenzie glared at Will. "I meant what I said earlier, Mac. Please just do me this one favour, okay?"

Mackenzie's eyes softened, although she sighed anyway just so that he wouldn't think she wasn't going too soft.

"Fiiiine." He smirked. "Worry not, I'm pretty sleepy, Will. I meant it when I said I'll probably spend most of the time asleep - sorry, Charlie."

Charlie tapped her hand gently, shaking his head to say he didn't mind. He'd been watching their exchange with a happy expression on his face.

Both Will and Mackenzie knew that their joint antics towards each other over the past couple of years had made their boss sad. Charlie cared about 'them' almost as much as they did. He had been their avid supporter even before they had gotten together all those years ago; he had introduced them, teamed them together on a news show, and straightened out things with HR when they started dating. They knew he cared.

"Okay. Just know that the next time you try and use the excuse 'but I've been sleeping for twelve hours so I don't need rest', I won't be buying it -"

"Always has to have the last word." Mackenzie muttered, causing both Will and Charlie to look at her with mild incredulity. She went red, knowing that at any other time it would most likely be one of them saying that to her.

"Okay. I'd better get going, but I'll call before I leave to let you know I'm heading home. Get some rest, Mac." His gaze lingered on her, as he turned slightly to leave. He so wanted to walk over there and kiss her goodbye, but for some reason, he didn't quite want to openly share what they had rekindled with anyone else just yet, even Charlie. Not that he had any doubts that before he let her doze off, their boss would give Mackenzie a decent interrogation about exactly what was going on between her and Will.

Mac was smiling softly at him as though she could read his mind, her teeth worrying her bottom lip. Charlie seemed to have a vague idea where his thoughts were as well, but didn't say anything; just looked down at Mac's hand to give the couple some privacy with that knowing smirk firmly back in place.

"See you when you get back." Mac replied gently.

With a last nod to her, and a brief smile aimed at Charlie, Will headed out into the open-plan living area, grabbing his bag and jacket on the way.

He was still a little uneasy about leaving Mackenzie after the events of the previous night, but his anxiety eased a little as he heard the sound of laughter coming from Mac and Charlie just before he pulled the apartment door shut.

* * *

_**This was originally supposed to be less than 2000 words but Will and Mac just kind of ran away from me. Next up, a bit of time with Mac and Charlie, and appearances from Jim and Sloan with Will.**_

_**Apologies if there were inexplicable capitalised 'I's in this, by the way...my laptop went a little weird :p **_


End file.
